I've looked for places around Toledo that can transfer my 16mm short to digital, but all I've found are places that seem really unprofessional, so I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations as to where I could get the job done - well. I'm currently looking at http://www.digitaltransfersystems.net/ which seems promising. Has anyone had anything done with them before?
I know virtually nothing about film->digital transfers, but I'm seeing tons of JPEG compression artifacts in both the stills and the moving examples on their site. The artifacts in the WMV don't seem to be caused by the video compression, but look like they originated before that point, in the compression applied after scanning. I'd be worried by that, because I've had the exact same fine artifacts in 35mm still scans and it always ends up being really annoying.
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Posts: 5197 | Location: Tisch at New York University | Registered: June 03, 2003
Best option is to send it out. 95% of the good labs and posthouses with competitive rates are on the east or west coast.
Those places like the one you linked to generally use an old film chain transfer system, which is essentially a modified film projector and video camera with a mirror in between. Not the best quality, and not cheap enough to justify the difference.
I recommend Cinelab (www.cinelab.com). Around $18/100' for a scene-by-scene transfer and $14/100' for best light. There is a $75 minimum for transfer, so make sure you have at least 3-400'. There are no extra charges, but tape stock is $10. The turnaround is quite fast - usually 1-2 days. If you send a hard drive they can do a 10-bit uncompressed transfer, which I highly recommend if you have the appropriate computer setup and applications.
There are a lot of labs - Colorlab, Flying Spot Film Transfer in Seattle, etc. - but you will find that they all have a minimum, frequently more than Cinelab's. They also tend to add charges for cleaning, packing, leader and spools.